Automobile signal device.



R. DANTONIO. AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23,1914.

1,106,179, Patented Aug.4,1914.

2 8KEETSSHBET 1.

. INVENTOR fiemLyus M/zh rzz'o A TTORNEYS R. DANTONIO. AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL DEVICE.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 28, 1914. 4 1,1 06,179. Pa ented Aug. 4, 19M

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES llllliilllfllllllll M I/Vl/E/VTOR i /{9 W fllintoiu' ATTORNEYS BEMIGIU$ DANTONIO, 0! NEW YORK, N. Y.

- AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL DEVICE.

Specification. of Letters Patent. Application filed January 28, 1914. Serial No. 814,010.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

T all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, REMIGIUS DAN'roNIo, a subject of the Kin of Italy, and a resident of the city of New ork, borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Automobile Signal Device, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

- This invention relates to improvements in automoblie signal devices, and has for an object to provide an improved structure for shifting a plurality of signs, said signs being arranged either in the front or rear of an automobile so as to indicate to an adjacent automobile or vehicle the intention of the driver.

Another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of signs which may be arranged in the back or front of an automobile, said signs bein adapted to be operated by a signal lever, w ich lever may be moved difiercnt distances for raising the respective signs, said lever 'being arranged either in' the form of a hand operated member or a foot operated member.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a rear signal or sign on the back of an automobile, whereby not only will --a visual signal be displayed but an alarm will be sounded when the driver of'the machine carrying the signal slows down or turns to the right or left. i

In carrying out the'object of the invention a suitable frame is provided in which a plurality of signals are arranged, as for instance signal boards carrying the words Right Left 9 Stop. In front of these signal boards when the same are in an inoperative-position is arranged a license tag. Associated with the license tag and the signal boards is a lamp for continually lighting the license tag, and for lighting the signal boards whenever the same are raised to a position above or from in back of the license tag. An arm for each of the signal boards is provided which is provided with a sliding operating member actuated by a suitable cord, as for instance what is known as-a Bowden cord or Bowden wire. This flexible member is operated by a suitable arm or lever secured to the automobile at the front,

as for instance on the shaft of the steering wheel'so as to be convenient for the operator. When the slidin 'member is operer for shifting one ated by the flexiblemem of the sign boards, a belt or tape is. pulle which winds a spring associated therewith, and also which operates a train of gearing connected with a bell so as to cause the bell member. Thus it will be seen that a single operation of the signal lever will produce a visual sign, and will sound an alarm for calling attention to the sign.

; is a rear view of a signal device adapted to 1 besecured to the rear of an automcibile; Fig. 22 1s a longitudinal vertical section through the structure shown in Fig. 1, the operating Fig. 3 is a section through Fig. 1 on line 3-3; Fig. 4 is a section throu h Fig. 1 taken approximately on line 1-4; ig. 5 is a sec- ;tion through Fig. 1 approximately on line controlling lever and support therefor.

' Referrin to the accompanying drawings by numera 1 indicates a framin and 2 a rear support which is provide with an curing the device in position on any suit- .able bracket connected with the rear part of the automobile. Arranged in the framing 1 are a plurality of guiding members 5 tively, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. A Sign 6 is provided with an operating arm 9, sign 7 with an operating arm 10, and sign 8 with an operating arm 11. All of these arms are in Fig. 2, and are provided with extensions which project into a sliding bar 13. The sliding bar 13 is provided with slots '14, 15 and 16, these slots being all of different lengths. into slot 14, while the ends of levers 10 and 11' extend into slots 15 and 16, respectively. By this structure when the wire 17 is pulled downwardly the end of bar 9 is first opcontinued movement of wire 17 will cause sliding bar 13 to move downwardly and'operate arm 10 for raising the signboard 7. A still further movement will cause the movement of arm 11 and the raising of si the word Right while the signboards 7 and 8 could be provided with the words Left and Stop, respectivcl By this lever 18 could be moved. from the lower d dotted position shown'in Fig. 2 to the fullj to sound during the movement of the flexible In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 35 i means being shown in connection therewith;

5-5; and Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the opening 3 and a clamping screw 4 for se- 3 adapted to carry signs 6, 7 and 8, respecpivotally mounted upon pin 12, as shown The end of lever 9 extends erated, whereby the sign 6 is elevated. A

8. The sig nboa-rd 6 could be provi ed with means when it is desired to turn to the right,

- multaneously but the word" which pulley has secured thereto theend tinned until it occupied shown in. Fig. 2, which is at right angles to the automobile, as for brackets 23 which line position shown i 2- vr if.

the driver should desire to turn to the left the movement of lever 18 would be con the dotted position,

the lower position, v A"'iurther movement of lever 1-8 will cause the word Sto to be elevated. If it is desired toraise t e sign carrying the word Stop in the first instance lever 18 is moved over quickly to an extreme position, whereupon all of the signboards will be raised substantially sif'Stop will he in front, or rather will beifaeing the rear so as to be open to' view.' The support 19 is clamped to any suitable part of the front of instance to the shaftcarrying the steering wheel, whereby the driver 0 operator may easily manipulate handle 1 Handle 18 is rigidly connectedwith shaft 20, which shaft carries a pulley. 21 arranged in the housing of clamp 1%,

wire 17 so that the wire 17 will be wound uplon pulley 21 as lever 18 is moved over.

e wire 17 of course is covered with a flexible member 22, as is usual with wires of this kind, so thatmotion from handle 18 can be communicated to member 13'.

Secured to the framing l b any desired means, as for instance suitab e screws, are are provided at their lower ends with turned-up members 24:, and at the upper end. with turned-down members 25., The turned-up members at form a stop or brace for limiting the'downward movement of the license plate 26, while the the members 25 carry set screws 27 for clamping the plate 26 against movement.- It will be observed that the members 24- and 25 overlap the upper and lower edges, respectively, of plate 26, but do not engage the under edges. This allows of any desired size to be used as the plate may extend beyond the member 25 as far as necessary. If a license plate should be i of less length than the distance .between members 25 it w be necessary to either lengthen the plate or move the brackets 23 closer together, r

Bolted or otherwise secured to the top'pf framing 1 is a casing 28 which carries a lamp 29 which is designed to shine through the window 30 toward the rear, and also is designed to shine downwardly and illuminate license plate 26. and also the boards 6, 7 and 8 whenever the same are raised, It will be observed from Figs, 3 and d that the license plate '26 'is-arranged at an angle, whereby the light from lamp 29 may more properly fall thereon.

Referring to bell 31 and associated parts it will be observed that the same is provided with a stationary support 32, a gong 33 and hammers 34L which are -pivotally a name plate mounted upon a vrotatin bar 35 ri cured to the rotatable s eeve 36. leeve 36 "isjloosely mounted on shaft 32, and has rigidly secured thereto a pinion 37 meshing with gear wheel 38. Gear Wheel 38' has rigidly secured thereto pinion 39 meshing w th gear wheel 40, which gear wheel is loosely-mounted upon shaft 32, and has rigidly secured thereto a acting with the pivotally mounted pawl 42. Pawl 42 is pivotally mounted upon the drum 43,1120 which the belt or tape 44 is secured, whereby. whenbelt or tape 44 is pulled downwardly by member .13 drum 43 will be rotated and power will be transmitted therethrough from pawl42 to ratchet wheel 41, and from thence through the train of gearmg associated therewith to the sleeve 36 for causing a proper operation of bar 35 and hammers 34.. Drum 43 has also conmeted-therewith a pin 45 which has 100 ed thereover' the end of spring 46, which as the opposite end secured to the stationary shaft 32, whereupon wound whenever drum-4:3 is rotated under the action of tape 44 and member 13. When member 13 is released spring 46 will actuate drum 43 so as to rewind tape 44 and raise member 13, pawl 42 slipping over ratchet wheel 41 and thereby-not afliecting the bell 31. In order to prevent spring-46 from moving member 13 back at the wrong time lever 18, shown in Figs. 2 and 6, is provided with alug or extension 47 adapted to snap into any of the notches .48. In order to make the lug 47 properly snap into the respective notches 48, a suitable spring 49 is provided which presses against one end oi c ever 18 so as to cause the same to turn upon its pivotal securing member 50 and thereby move the opposite end of the lever so that the lug 47 will properly operate' By this construction and arrangement when lever 18 is moved from its inoperative or normalgosition a signal or slgnboard will be raise to view, sounded for drawing attention to the fact that a signboard has been brought to View. If the signboard is arranged in the rear of the automobile anyone following. will be notified as to the intention of the driver,

of the machine anyone approaching will likewise be notified driver. It is of course evident that a signal 1 device could be arranged in front, of the automobile, and also one in the rear, and connected up so as to operate synchronously, and thereby resent signs simultaneouslyin the front'and rear. In connection with the. signs, it will be observed from Fig. 5 that a suitable lass panel 5 is provided for protect-ing t e signs against theelements, and also for preventing dirt and foreign matter from entering the casing or'framing 1..

sei ratchet wheel 41 co- I the spring will be at and the gong 33' will be I15 I and if the signboard is arranged in front a of the intention of the;

they are disclosed member and a What I claim is- 1. In a vehicle signaling device, the combination of a frame arranged to be connected to the rear portion of a vehicle, a plurality of guides arranged in said frame, a plurality of signals arranged in said frame and gruded in their movement by said guides, a movable arm for each of said signals for moving the signals to a point where to view, a pull arranged adjacent the seat of said vehicle, and a s iding connecting member connected with said pull and said. slidin connecting member being formed with s ots of different lengths Wherebysaid arms are successively engaged and moved into view.

2. A vehicle signaling device comprising a supporting frame, a plurality of signals slidingly fitting into said frame, a movable arm for actuating each of said signals, a sliding member for actuating said arms, said slidin member bein provided with slots of di erent lengths or successively engaging said arms and moving the same, a pull connection between the pull member and said sliding member, whereby said sliding member may be moved to any desired extent for actuating any of said signa s.

3. In a vehicle signaling device, the combination of a frame arranged to be connected to the rear ortion of a 'vehicle, a series of visual signals slidingly fitting into said frame, a pivotally mounted arm for each of said ,signals formed with an operating exaccommodating said operating extensions, said slots being of different lengths, whereby a certain movement will cause one of said signals to be raised, a further movement a second signal, and so on, a ull member arranged adjacent the seat 0 said vehicle, a connection between said pull member an said operating slide for moving said slide in one direction, a drum and beltfor moving said slide in the opposite direction, a spring for actuating said drum and belt, and means associated with said belt for sounding an alarm each time said sliding member is actuated.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

REMIGIUS DANTONIOJ Witnesses:

A. L. Krronm, PHILIP D. Ronmmtrs.

tension, a sliding member having slots for 

